Nature Vs. Nurture - The Debate

     To start with, what does “nature vs. nurture” signify? Well, it is a psychology expression that queries whether heredity or environment impacts and manipulates the human behavior and personality. Many people argue that their character traits are innate; while others dispute that they acquire their character traits by learning. This term was first used on 1874 by Sir Francis Galton, who specialized on mathematics and other psychology fields. He became stimulated when his half-cousin, Charles Darwin, wrote his book on ‘The Origin of Species’, and therefore started originating the debate of “nature vs. nurture.” Sir Francis Galton favored the ‘nature theory’ and therefore utilized twins to prove his position. He even wrote a book named ‘English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture’ to state his nativistic speculation. A few topics that are involved in this debate of “nature vs. nurture” are: homosexuality, creativity, personality, athletic ability, criminal behavior, and intelligence.

     Moreover, this debate contains a dichotomy between the genetics and the environment in which people live. People approach to this subject in different ways. Some people believe that nature has been the origin of our evolution; while others strongly consider that we have developed and progressed as a human race because of nurture. Scientists have not yet taken a final verdict because they do not have a lot of evidence to support their opinions.

     I strongly deem there is no right or wrong theory. Both nature and nurture have maneuvered and influenced our lives. We all have different ways to act and react. It all depends on the way we were raised and how the genes of our family affect our personal lives.

Works Cited

http://genealogy.about.com/cs/geneticgenealogy/a/nature_nurture.htm \

http://www.psychology.sbc.edu/Galton.htm

Charles Darwin's Life, Theory, and Impact in Society

To begin with, Charles Robert Darwin was the British father of evolutionary biology. He was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. Charles Darwin was born into a wealthy family, being the fifth son. His grandparents were successful at their vocations. His grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, was a famous natural philosopher and his grandmother, Josiah Wedgwood, contributed to society with her production of pottery. 

In addition, Darwin’s education took several courses. Darwin was his father’s apprentice during his early years and subsequently, Charles decided to study medicine at Edinburgh University. However, he ostracized the monotonous readings and disregarded surgery and other medicine components. Consequently, Charles Darwin developed an interest for taxonomy, the classification of living things, and transferred to Cambridge University, but to study divinity. He then became fascinated for natural philosophy, botany, and geology. 

Likewise, Charles Darwin arrived at his theory of natural selection when he traveled in the HMS Beagle during five years. He completed numerous investigations at the Galapagos Island of natural history specimens. This was Darwin’s peak of inspiration to invent the theory of evolution and natural selection. This theory is based on organisms and their environments. Organisms reproduce and create offspring. Species often tend to produce more offspring than the environment. As a result, there is a lack of resources to nourish the animals. Darwin discovered that the animals who survived had distinct and more apt characteristics: this is known as the survival of the fittest. With this evidence, Darwin deduced that organisms had evolved to endure their environment and to increase their probabilities of survival. After twenty years of working on his theory, Charles Darwin published his book on ‘The Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection.’

As a final point, the Church had a lot of dominance and influence over society during Darwin’s time period. His theory was very contentious, and it brought a lot of cultural concerns within the moral beliefs and standards of society. The Church felt threatened by the theory of evolution given that Darwin’s theory questioned God’s existence and the way the world was created. This troubled Charles Darwin because he was afraid of neglecting established beliefs and therefore felt insecure about developing his theory. He felt even more pressured when he was notified that another scientist was developing a related theory. Charles Darwin died on April 19, 1882. Charles Darwin’s theory impacted life, science, and society in an incredible way.

Works Cited

http://ezinearticles.com/?Charles-Darwin-Facts&id=1970857

http://www.biology-online.org/2/10_natural_selection.htm

What is Psychology? Why is it significant?

      Originally, numerous people disregard the fact that psychology is based on the word ‘psyche’. ‘Psyche’ is established as the abstract aspect of the persona, which connotes the individual’s soul and mind. People possess states of mind that create their own action-and-reaction systems to approach to life. What I’m implying: psychology goes beyond the concrete aspect of the person. It involves the elements of an individual that cannot be seen: the feelings and their true spirit.

      In my personal estimation, I feel it’s paradoxical that people have forgotten about the central inspiration of psychology. Nowadays, people just focus on the superficial traits of the studies of psychology, instead of giving more emphasis on the subliminal part of it. The other phase of psychology introduces it as the study of the “mental characteristics or attitude of a person or group (Concise Oxford Dictionary).” Therefore, I don’t fully consent on this definition. Society originates the erroneous concept that everyone must have a certain attitude towards life and traits that distinguish them apart. That’s just unfair! Why does everyone need to be stereotyped by people who don’t even know your true soul!? What I am trying to decipher is: why does people judge you by your attitude and pretend like if they know you? From my point of view, attitude doesn’t mean emotions. Attitude doesn’t portray always what you truly feel. It’s a scam to deceive people and satisfy their needs instead of yours. People try to analyze your conduct to comprehend your attitude in a situation, but they won’t be conscious of what you really feel. They won’t totally identify the root of your behavior.

      To end, I reckon that only by studying the soul of the person; you will discern their emotional level. By studying the mental characteristics and attitude you won’t dig as deep as studying the person’s soul and spirit. I think it is vital and gratifying to study psychology. It’s a way of communicating with the abstract worlds of other people. By studying psychology, society can accept other people’s actions and become open-minded to other perspectives.

http://www.sntp.net/psychology_definition.htm